Progress in S'pore warplane deal

Progress in S'pore warplane deal

SINGAPORE: Singapore shortlisted Eurofighter, France's Dassault and U.S. firm Boeing on Friday for what is expected to be an influential warplane order worth more than US$1 billion.

The decision was a blow to rivals Lockheed Martin Corp. of the United States and Sukhoi of Russia, which were excluded from bidding for the order for about 20 planes, expected to be awarded within a year.

The shortlisting of Dassault Aviation SA was particularly important for that company, analysts said.

A Ministry of Defense official confirmed the decision, revealed earlier to Reuters by a source involved in the program.

"The shortlist decision was based on a detailed framework that looks at all aspects pertinent to our requirements, including operational performance, logistics supportability, total life- cycle costs and growth potential," ministry spokeswoman Lee May Lin told Reuters.

Eurofighter GmbH. is a consortium of Britain's BAE Systems Plc, European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co. NV. of Germany and France and Finmeccanica SpA of Italy.

Since Dassault's Rafale has failed to win any export competitions against the Eurofighter Typhoon, analysts have identified the Singapore order as crucial to the French firm.

"Singapore has the characteristics of a must-win contract for the Rafale, so making the shortlist is clearly a major relief for Dassault," said Goldman Sachs analyst Sash Tusa in London. -- Reuters